－ Rice with yellow chrysanthemum －
photo:Akira Moriyasu
September (Kikudzuki)
＜Flower Course＞
Matcha green tea and a monaka featuring the gentian flower crest of Sankō-in
A monaka is a wafer cake filled with red bean paste.
Nishime, or simmered food
Mountain yam rolls, boiled kōya-dofu (freeze-dried bean curd), burdock root with sesame dressing, and boiled pumpkin, garnished with a celestial bamboo leaf.
Sesame Tofu in a starch sauce
A staple of shōjin cuisine, characterized by its white sesame aroma and smooth texture.
Taro root sprinkled with yuzu
The green yuzu fruit is in season, and at this stage, the scent of the yuzu is the strongest. This dish uses small seasonal taro roots as a vehicle to highlight the scent of the yuzu.
Kōei Tofu
Cherrywood-smoked tofu. This signature dish was perfected by this temple’s abbess Kōei.
Kogarashi (literal translation: cold winter wind)
An eggplant dish. So named by abbess Kōei after a biwa belonging to the empress-turned-nun Taira no Tokuko, because the shape of the sliced eggplant is similar to that of the biwa.
Soup with tsukimi dango (suimono, or clear soup)
Tsukimi, or moon viewing, is an autumn activity, and is often accompanied by dango dumplings. This soup contains dumplings made of tofu to evoke tsukimi dango.
Rice with yellow chrysanthemum
Pickles
＜Moon Course＞
In addition to the dishes listed above, there is an oden of millet fu. Fu is gluten.
＜Snow Course＞
In addition to the dishes listed above, there is a dish called pinecones; and Takenogosho-style sip tea.
Pinecones is a dish is made of deepfried tofu and shiitake mushroom. It was a dish conceived by the first abbess Soei after she was startled one morning soon after her arrival in Koganei by the sound of pine cones bursting.
*Dishes are subject to change and may not be exactly according to the monthly menus.
All courses are available by reservation only.